Stranded
by miss-apple-dbz
Summary: In a school trip, Gohan and Videl accidentally get stranded on a magical island that won't let anybody get away until it wants to. With human eating cannibals and weird looking animals, what will these two do to spend their time?
1. Stormy Field Trip

AN: Hi! Here's another one of my humour and romance fics. I noticed something about the stories I write. I seem to get a lot more reviews when I do humour and romance. With the exception of It Brought Us Together, my other serious fics, didn't get a lot of hits.

For now, Torn Apart is postponed until further notices. Thanks to all of the reviewers especially 'The General of Darkness' for making my writing better and 'F22 Raptor' for inspiring once again. Thank you so much, those are the kind of reviews that makes me feel like I'm one of the best writers out there.

Well, let's get on to my story.

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:STRANDED:

It was a very nice day. Such a nice day in fact, that the popular and most well respected school in Satan city had decided to send out one special class to go out on the beach as a school trip. Which class? Well, that's not very hard to guess.

"People, let's get over here without any hassles please." The teacher in charge called out to his students. "We're going to start a new game, and this time, no cheating please."

A few giggles and chuckles erupted from the crowd that was gathering slowly infront of the teacher. One student in particular was pinned with glares from the other students, who actually believed that winning was everything.

"What?" the boy said, with mocking confusion sketched on his face. And that boy is Sharpner. "A guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do."

"Yeah, and a guy's gotta cheat?" Erasa, who was standing beside him asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course. Not everybody is bound to win, you know."

Erasa snickered. "No wonder Videl never goes out with you. I think she made a right decision."

Sharpner raised both of his hands up. "Peace okay? I already gave up anyway. So if anybody thinks that she dumped me, well, they're wrong."

"You never even dated!"

A demanding shush shut both of the blondes up. They saw Videl beside them, nodding her head towards the teacher, who was now, also glaring at the two of them in particular.

"This game is the old fashioned game of boat racing." The teacher continued to explain. "Each one of you will get a partner and you're going to get a boat and two oars. Most of you know the game. There's going to be a long line of ribbon, fifty-five meters away, and if you're the first ones to reach it, then you're the winner. There are video cameras up on the poles looking over the sea, and the other teacher is already guarding, and watching closely. What are you standing there for? Go get yourselves a partner and let's start this game!" the teacher ended harshly.

The students scattered around, some already getting themselves a boat and oars, while the others arguing to who's going with who.

It didn't take a very long time for Videl to grab Gohan's arm and drag him to where the boats were lined up.

"Wow, so far we've been partners for every single game!" Gohan told his best friend, or according to Krillin, his 'girlfriend'. He liked her a lot, no need to deny that, he just hoped that he will actually get enough guts to say it. Guts, hehe.

"Why, do you mind?" Videl asked him back.

"No. I'm just saying it. But I don't mind at all."

With that, both of the raven-haired teens took a boat and Gohan grabbed two oars from the stand. They walked down the sandy ground and once they reached the waters, they placed the boat down. Gohan suggested that Videl go in the boat, and when the race starts, he'll push it and get it afterwards.

Once ever student was in a straight line, just at the edge of the waves, the teacher counted down from three and told them to go. And the race started! Unfortunately, so did the bad weather.

Videl and Gohan worked their way, and they soon found themselves on the deeper part of the beach. They were way ahead of everybody else.

"Do you think we should slow down?" Videl asked. "I think we should wait for the others to catch up."

"Uh, no." Gohan replied quietly. It was nice to get Videl alone for once! Erasa and Sharpner has been at their tail ever since the day started.

"Is something the matter?"

"No."

The two of them rowed quietly, but they still didn't see the white line of the ribbon. They've been rowing for quite a while.

"Uh… Videl, there is something wrong." Gohan replied awkwardly.

"Yeah, I figured that out." Videl answered back.

The waves had taken an abrupt change in manner. They weren't peacefully and slowly moving, but now, they were pounding violently against the side of their boat. Nobody can be seen behind them anymore, and no white ribbon ahead either. A little moment afterwards, the rain started to pour down.

"Oh perfect!" Videl mumbled. "Just perfect."

"Videl, maybe we should go back. It doesn't matter about winning now." Gohan shouted, making himself audible against the roaring waves and the loud tapping of the rain on the water.

"Good idea."

However, before they could turn around, they saw a blinding light ahead and a couple of seconds later, they heard a low rumble of the thunder.

They tried to row themselves around so they could go back, but the waves weren't allowing their boat to turn and the oars weren't any more help.

"Gohan!" Videl shouted. "Just use some of your powers to push us just a little bit closer to the shore."

"No!" Gohan yelled back. "Some of them might still be on the sea and I don't want anyone to see me do it."

"It doesn't matter! They might think that it's just a flash of lightning."

Before Gohan could argue back, a large wave hit them over, turning their boats bottom side up. Both the teens were pushed down the water. Gohan immediately popped his head up for some air. Videl was nowhere in sight.

"VIDEL!" he called. There was no reply, not even her head popping up.

"VIDEL!" he yelled out once again. But there was still no reply.

He dived down underneath the water, to look for her. It was so hard to swim! He opened his eyes just to feel the salty water enter them. He closed them back, but the urge to find Videl won and he opened them again. Disappointment took over him as he found out that there was nothing to see. There were only bubbles everywhere and even if there isn't, the only thing he could see was the dark blue colour of the sea.

He went back up for air.

THERE!

He spotted something floating.

"VIDEL!" he called out.

He swam after the body, pushing himself forcefully against the strong waves. He saw the body float away.

Damn! He was so stupid.

After knocking himself on the head a couple of times, Gohan realized that he should have flew to be able to reach Videl. So that's exactly what he did. He flew up until he was able to see most of the waters that were surrounding them both. He could already see that their boat was broken into pieces.

But, once again, there was no sign of Videl.

He looked around for her, his head spinning so quickly in every direction, that he thought it might screw off his neck.

Suddenly, before he even saw anything else up there in the air with him, something struck him against his head. An excruciating pain rang up the back of his neck to the top of his head.

Before he dropped to the waters, he fell unconscious.

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AN: Well, there you go. This is only the prologue and I want you guys to please review. Please, please, please. I'm sorry if it was a little short but I promise that the other chapters would be longer.

Review.

Review.

Review.

Thanx.


	2. The Island

AN: Hey people! Thanks for reviewing. I know that some of you might have noticed that Gohan wasn't very strong in the first chapter because of the fact that he wasn't really able to fight off the waves. I try to make my characters as real as the series as possible, but sometimes I need to make exceptions. I also did the first chapter in a day also, so it wasn't a very polished chapter. Well, here's the second chapter and I hope you guys enjoy it more.

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Chapter 2: The Magical Island

It was as if everything that he felt were snapshots from a movie that doesn't even make sense. He felt them here, and then there, most of the time not feeling anything at all. His mind wasn't working properly, making him drop unconscious just a millisecond after he becomes conscious. It was irritating.

One time before he felt the heavy waters drag him over to a solid ground, an unbearable pain rang from the back of his neck to his head and then to his scalp. The pain stayed there for a very long time, making him believe that his scalp was broken. Is that possible? Can anyone break a scalp?

He wasn't even sure if he really was carried by the waters and then dragged to a solid ground. It felt more like he was floating in a pot of boiling gravy and then was spooned up by a rough, sand paper-like silverware. He felt as if his skin was being scratched away by thousands of slivers of glass. By then again, he would black out just after he feels the slightest thing. Honestly, he wasn't sure about anything at all.

After being invaded by darkness for a long time, he finally gained consciousness slowly. Very slowly. Then, he became positive that he could feel the warmth of the sun. It wasn't just an illusion, like the ones he experienced when he was being tossed back and forth from consciousness and fainting. He could really _feel._

After savoring his pleasantly warm surroundings, he decided to open up his eyes.

He slowly opened his lids just to be blinded by the super-bright rays of the sun which were bathing him at the moment. He lifted up his aching hands to shield his eyes.

He saw sand!

Where in the world was he?

He slowly sat up, turning his head left and right, observing the place. It was morning, he was sitting on sand as water from the ocean rolled over to his toes.

Behind him, a thick forest lined up where the sand started to disappear.

It wasn't the place that alarmed him yet. It was the fact that he didn't know how he got there. He doesn't remember a single thing.

He tried concentrating, starting with the general information.

'Okay,' he thought. 'My name is Gohan. I was with my class yesterday and-'

Suddenly, all the facts and memories came rushing back to his mind all at once, overlapping each other that when he could no longer remember anything, everything came crashing to a halt. All he could do was assume.

'The waves must have carried me here. But where _is_ here? Hawaii? Australia?'

Before Gohan knew it, he stopped worrying about where he was and in a split second, one particular thing was at the center of his mind.

Where was Videl?

Yeah, now he remembered. When the boat overturned, he couldn't find her anywhere. Panic swelled up inside him so quickly that the hair on his arms prickled up.

Gohan looked around him once again, hoping he'd find Videl at the island there with him. But he couldn't see her.

"Well then, there's no use in staying here." Gohan decided. "Better find her right away."

And with that, Gohan took off the island, flying at full speed. Just several meters away from where he was, something hard had hit him, making him loose his balance, and sending him down.

Gohan rolled over and landed on his feet.

"What?" he mumbled puzzled.

He looked up and saw nothing but the sky. Whatever it was the had hit him can't be seen. Oh great! Here he was, stranded on an island, looking for his best friend and something invisible wants to play with him.

He tried again, but this time, he didn't use his full speed. Instead, when he reached the hard thing, he tried pushing against it. Just then, he realized that it was a barrier.

"There's some kind of shield covering this island." He said to himself, then cursed. How was he supposed to find Videl now?

Gohan flew back down and sat on the sand, frowning. He watched the waves for a while and then stood up. He pointed a hand up aiming for the shield and blasted it with an energy ball.

Unfortunately, the ball hit the barrier and collapsed into thousands of little bright lights without making a slight scratch on the shield. Slight scratch, hah! He can't even see the shield.

Gohan tried again, this time blasting a kame-hame-ha wave. (Is that how you spell it?) Surprisingly, it didn't work!

He sat back down on the sand, watching the waves again. His stomach grumbled.

Gohan sighed. Finding food was no problem, but what if Videl pops up and asks for help and he's not there?

Caught up in his thoughts, Gohan didn't even see a huge wave coming towards him. He just felt it. He felt it when it swallowed half of the ground covered with sand, and then it pulled back to the sea.

Now wet with salt water, Gohan thought that things couldn't get worse. He was right.

Turning his head to his left, he saw a body that was swept over from the gigantic wave. It was now lying lifelessly on the sand, looking like a ragged doll.

_Videl_!

Getting quickly up to his feet, Gohan scampered over to where Videl was lying.

As he got closer, he noticed that one of her legs was badly wounded. There was a gash on the side and it was wide open.

Slowly, he reached out for one of her hands and checked it for a pulse.

She was alive!

Barely.

He rolled her hardly breathing body over so he could check if she had any more injuries.

She was full of bruises, cuts and she had one broken wrist.

Gohan looked back at the forest and frowned. Even if he could find some healing herbs, the time required to find them would leave Videl to die.

Gohan turned his gaze back down on her. It probably wasn't the wounds that had caused her to be in such a critical state. He knew that she had worse injuries before. She must have just drank too many salt water or she had been underwater for a long time, making her unable to breathe. He had to wake her up so that he will know whether it will be alright for him to leave her for a while to get her some of those herbs. It will be a bad case if she doesn't want him to leave. Or even worse, if she doesn't wake up at all.

He poked and pushed her body slightly, ordering her to get up.

"Videl. Hey, I'm here. Wake up." He whispered in a demanding yet hushed voice.

After several minutes of doing this, Gohan knew he had no other choice. Dreading what he was about to do, he turned his head left and right to make sure that there were no one else there with them.

He pinched Videl's nose and slowly brought his face down towards hers. Using his other hand, he opened her mouth slightly.

'Oh, if Videl sees me doing this, she's going to think that I'm some kind of sick pervert.'

Gohan covered her mouth with his open mouth, and slowly puffed air inside her.

He pulled back after three exhales, and he placed his hand over her chest and pumped it.

Trying this for a few times, Videl finally gained consciousness and despite her current situation, she quickly sat up and spat out water.

"Videl!" Gohan gasped, both happy and surprised that he was able to wake her up. Whoa! Whoever invented CPR must be truly blessed.

The blue-eyed teen turned her head around to Gohan, staring at him for a while. Then her lips curved into a tiny smile, and she slowly wrapped her hands around his neck.

Gohan returned the embrace with a bear hug. A few moments later, Videl pulled back and beamed at him.

-o-

Night came. Luckily, Gohan somehow found a way to bandage Videl's wound. They were now around a campfire that Gohan made, keeping themselves warm.

Although the two had eaten a few handful of fruits that they collected from the forest, they still felt hungry, especially for the demi-Saiyan teen.

"Maybe we can eat a bit more tomorrow," Videl replied, leaning against Gohan's shoulder for warmth and to stretch her legs out, but mostly for warmth. "And then we can explore the island." She suggested.

"Only if you're feeling better." Gohan replied, sneaking a worried glance at her.

Videl chuckled. One of the things she liked the most about Gohan was that he does or says things unknowingly. Yet, they always come out so natural, as if he was one of nature's purest living thing, untouched by other people's dirty deeds. But it's true. And she find it sweet.

"If you gain more energy, perhaps you could try and break the shield again." Videl replied.

Gohan looked at her and smiled hopefully.

"Perhaps," he whispered.

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AN: Not much romance, I know. But I'm planning to make a chapter just full of romance. I promise guys, it's going to get better. Please review. Thanks. 


	3. Their Second Morning

AN: Hello people! Sorry for the late update. I've had a writer's block at the beginning of the chapter but by the middle, it went along pretty well. Thank you so much for all your reviews. I can see that this story is starting to be a hit. Well, a little.

Ava: Thanks so much for both of your reviews so far. I'm glad there's people like you that still reviews every chapter even if there's more than one. Thanks a bunch!

F22 Raptor: Thanks a lot for the compliment! And your welcome for that comment I made. You really did inspire me and the review you made on chapter two really got me going. Thanks a lot for believing that my stories would do just fine. And on a personal note as well, that guy stopped picking on me. Well, not as often anyway. He picks on this other girl on the other side of his locker. I don't really talk much with the girl, but one of my friends say she doesn't act very well. Thanks once again.

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Chapter 3: Their Second Morning

The bright sun poured its rays over the small island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Or was it Pacific? Nah, it doesn't really matter. Whoever placed that lump of ground there probably forgot about it anyway.

The rays traveled from the atmosphere and began caressing the face of a young man, especially enjoying touching over his closed eyelids.

The dark-haired teenager tightly closed his eyes even more, refusing the invitation of waking up. However, after the rays continued insisting, the demi-Saiyan admitted his defeat, and decided to get up.

Opening his eyes slowly, Gohan was met with a pair of blue orbs looking down at him.

Oh, great. Now he remembered. He got stranded in a weird, pathetic island with Videl. Just great!

"Good. You're awake!" Videl exclaimed happily, placing her hands on Gohan's arm, forcing him to sit up.

Gohan rubbed his eyes with his other hand, and sat at the sand, realizing that was where he woke up yesterday morning.

He smiled. At least Videl was here with him.

All of a sudden, Videl shoved a purple berry in front of his face.

"It's salty." She replied blankly. "I spotted them on the bushes by the front of that big, gigantic tree we saw yesterday."

Gohan gave her a questioning look.

"Videl, it's a berry. It's a plant. Plants produce glucose, which means they're sweet."

Videl snorted. One of the things she didn't like very much about Gohan was that he can get too logical sometimes. She's smart as well, yes, but she never tries and shows it off. It's geeky! But oh well. That's what makes Gohan Gohan.

"I'm pretty sure you know that." He added, which made Videl frown.

"I don't hallucinate with tasting food," she replied. "You can taste it if you like."

Gohan took the berry from her and popped it into his mouth. Why, it was salty!

Videl continued talking. "This is a weird place. Berries might be salty or walls might be invisible. If you try to go to the bathroom here, your pee might turn into gravy. I don't know, Gohan. If you hadn't noticed, this isn't any typical island."

Gohan turned his gaze down towards the sparkling sand. He can tell Videl was upset. He was upset too, but he's trying to make the best of things. This wasn't the time to be sulking and pouting. If they want to get out of this stupid lump of soil –that actually had the nerve to sprout out from the face of earth- they better do something to leave ot at least survive for a couple of days.

He sighed and looked back at Videl.

"How's your leg?" he asked her.

"It's fine," she whispered. "It stings quite a bit though."

"How about we get some more food?" Gohan suggested. "We might find a lake where we can get fresh water or something."

"Okay." Videl agreed quietly.

Gohan slowly stood up, helping Videl get onto her feet as well. He snaked an arm around her slender waist, and both of them walked slowly, Videl limping a bit.

They entered the dense, damp and most forest behind them, their torn and ragged shoes squeaking softly at the squashy mud underneath their feet.

They found a few berries on some bushes and shrubs. Some were on the ground, but they didn't bother grabbing those. There were abundant deep inside the forest, they're pretty sure about that.

Taking off his shirt, Gohan placed the growing collection of food, leaving Videl unable to keep her stare from him. From those big tight abs, and hard chest and those lusty, luscious…

Videl quickly snapped her gaze away from Gohan's torso realizing what she had been thinking. She mentally punched herself. How could she had been thinking that way? He's just a friend after all, right?

'Don't friends feel kind of hot for each other sometimes too? Especially if they're opposite gender.' Videl thought. She had to bite her tongue to produce enough pain for her brain to stop thinking silly thoughts.

'But don't they?' her mind kept insisting. She bit herself harder, stopping only when she tasted blood.

"Why did you remove your shirt?" Videl asked, incapable to resist asking.

Gohan smirked. "Why, are you willing to remove _your _shirt?"

Videl blushed madly, turning away quickly just as she did before. Her cheeks burned, and she mentally punched herself again; this time being more brutal. So brutal. Why had she bothered to ask anyway. With the self-abuse going on in her mind, she decided to take it easy on herself and turned her anger and blaming towards the very _very_ innocent Gohan.

"I have two shirts, for your information." She snapped at to him. Before she could take it back, realizing that she could have been offering to use her shirt, Gohan caught her uneasiness and instantly had a comeback.

"Great! Maybe you can help me and get those apples for us!"

Videl's head shot around, looking at him giving him an 'I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that' look. She received a cool and Vegeta-like smirk.

She almost slapped Gohan, but knew that wouldn't affect him so she walked faster ahead, leaving him behind her.

If Videl would have turned, she wouldn't get a surprised reaction she expected. Gohan watched in amusement as his foxy pissed-off best friend limped her way away from him.

A few feet away, Videl stumbled flat face down on the muddy ground. The azure-eyed teen heard the demi-Saiyan behind her stifle a laugh as he walked coolly over to her.

Before he could tease her about her clumsiness, she stood up and glared at him.

"I'm fine. If it just wasn't for you, this stupid wound and this stupid… stupid… wait, what is that?"

Gohan followed Videl's gaze down on the ground. A golden bar was sticking out from the muddy soil, glittering furiously against the maddening sun.

Both of the teens looked at each other, wide-eyed, thinking the exact same thing.

Buried treasure!

They hurriedly got onto all fours, digging into the soft ground, forgetting all about their hunger.

Gohan grabbed the gold bar and pulled it up, making the work easier. Much easier. He silently cursed at himself, scolding at why he hadn't thought of it sooner.

Out with it came a medium-sized chest with gold linings, jewels attached on the front. It was covered with blue velvet, with the initial DB carved with bronze material on the curve of the cover. Very old thing, it was. Centuries, perhaps.

Videl traced her gentle fingers over the edges, the golden bars feeling cool against her heated skin.

Gohan brushed his own hands against the velvety cover, smoothing the initials. Using his other hand, he grabbed the lock and pulled it from where it was.

Both of the teens excitedly opened the top, getting ready for the shimmering of gold coins, silver chains, ruby droplets and other precious metals that are going to shine up their eyes and make them greedy.

They were met with everything but bright and precious. Except for a letter and old documents, the chest was empty, filled only with dust bunnies.

"Ugh," Videl uttered with complete disappointment. "What a treasure."

Gohan didn't speak as he picked up the letter and unfolded it. The paper was ancient! It's so brown and brittle that it will crumble with the slightest touch. Whatever was used to write down the note, it was faded and blotchy as if rain drops had fallen when whoever wrote it made it. It wasn't a very recent type of ink that was used. Neither was the pen, according to the strokes.

Videl leaned over so that she could read it as well It was torn on the top and on some other parts.

'…_**island. Nothing but pure.**_

_**I won't let it suffer from the**_

_**Horrible deeds of human these**_

_**Days. It will be uninhabited,**_

_**Uncivilized. I will make sure**_

_**Of that. The slightest violation**_

_**Of nature will cause**_

_**The peace to rupture.'**_

Another part was cut off.

'…_**trap until the forces of**_

_**evil had been rid off. Such **_

_**action will confirm that the**_

_**island is safe. If this had been**_

_**done, up to the tiniest thing**_

_**will be pure again.'**_

That was it. The rest had been cut off.

Videl grunted. "It says nothing about being able to get out of this ridiculous place. And what _evil forces_? It makes it sound like a children's nursery rhyme."

"Maybe he's the guy who made the island." Gohan though aloud.

"He made an _island_?"

The demi-Saiyan shrugged. "Bulma makes a lot of things. I'm pretty sure _she_ can make an island if she really wants to."

The blue-eyed young woman slammed a fist into her palm.

"That's it!" she exclaimed. "He might be related to Bulma. I mean, there's a possibility that the 'B' in this initial stands for 'Briefs'."

Gohan ruffled through the documents until he found a name matching the initials. It was a medical certificate and it clearly stated a blurred name.

'Donkey Bruisetree'.

"Nope. I'm pretty sure no Bruisetree runs in the family."

"Wow. He had cool parents." Videl scoffed sarcastically.

The two of them browsed through the documents and found nothing else helpful or interesting.

Grabbing an apple from a tree, Videl sat down beside her best-friend moaning and complaining about everything that had happened for the past two days.

"It's not fair," she replied, dropping her head on Gohan's shoulder. "Maybe this is one of those reality show things."

Gohan chuckled. "Maybe it's a nature thing." He said copying her tone, trying to cheer her up.

"Maybe it's a torture thing."

"Maybe it's a pee and gravy thing."

Videl giggled and smiled up at Gohan. He smiled just as much back. They both sighed knowing it was going to be a very long day.

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AN: That's all for now. I hope you guys liked the small funny romance part in there. The real fun will start next chapter which is really quite unfortunate because school is starting and I might not update until the end of the month. But don't worry. As long as you guys review, I will update. You guys will soooo like next chapter. I guarantee it. I have it all planned out already. Well, till then! 


	4. Starting to Survive

AN : Hello! I'm sorry for the long wait. I've been super busy! I typed this chapter up, but I lost it, so I had to re-type it. Hehehe. Anyways, thank you sooooo much for all of the reviews. Thank you thank you thank you. I probably sent you guys a reply if you signed in. But to those who had an anonymous review, thank you so much. I appreciate it all!

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Chapter 4: Starting to Survive

She forgot that word. That word that's supposed to describe how she feels.

Miserable? No. She'd be miserable if she hadn't anything to eat. There were so many different types of food on this pathetic island. She'd be miserable if she was dying.

She'd be miserable if Gohan wasn't with her.

Dissatisfied? Not really. Dissatisfied described a more general look on a life. She was happy with her life. She had friends, a loving family and a pleasant future. She just wasn't happy staying at this island.

Frustrated? Yeah. Maybe that's the word. Yeah. She was frustrated that she couldn't get out of there. Frustrated that she even got there. Frustrated that she had no clue why this was happening.

It was all so confusing as well. What was the 'evil forces' from the letter supposed to mean? What? Like there were some kind of species on the island, descendants of Cell and Frieza?

Videl sighed. She turned her gaze down on the shirt on her lap. Gohan's shirt to be exact.

The sixteen year old girl popped a berry inside her mouth. Now that Gohan had left her with the food they collected earlier, she had to give him the first layer of her top so that he could place whatever he find on it. Why she agreed, she didn't know. At least it was better than arguing.

She didn't even know why she and Gohan had that conversation about removing their shirts. She felt like she should know the answer since she was the one who brought it up. But still. _He_ was the one who removed _his_ shirt first. It was as if he wanted her to bring it up. But why _would_ he want to bring it up? And why had she been so easy?

There was a ruffling behind her by the bushes, interrupting her thoughts.

It was Gohan. Not that it could have been a lion or a hyena. Most of the animals stayed deep in the forest.

He didn't have anything on her shirt. Videl got suspicious, thinking that he just wanted it off of her.

"I didn't find any food," he told her.

"Wow. I thought you did considering how much fruits you got on _my_ shirt," Videl shot back sarcastically.

Gohan sighed. "I did find a small lake though. With tiny falls. I already got a drink, an maybe you should go there too and cool off."

The azure-eyed teen grunted a response and placed her friend's shirt on the ground. She stood up and walked passed him.

"Where is it?" she questioned.

"Walk straight ahead. You'll see a patch of bald bushed and an anthill. Go to your right and keep walking straight. You'll find it there eventually."

Videl turned away following the directed path Gohan told her. Once she was out of sight, the demi-Saiyan picked up the rest of the berries Videl left and headed for the beach.

He reached it within minutes. Eyeing the sky suspiciously, the dark-haired teen flew up slowly. He kept a hand in front of him expecting though not hopefully to touch the invisible barrier.

He didn't have to wait very long for it. He felt the hard, cold wall against his skin. Trying to push against it, Gohan found that it was still exactly the same as the previous day.

The handsome young man frowned and flew back at the golden sand on the ground.

'Videl should have found the lake by now.' He thought.

He walked back in the dense forest planning to join Videl by the lake. Walking past the velvet chest they found a couple of hours before, Gohan soon found himself looking at those leafless bushes he told Videl of. He went to his right, avoiding the thorny shrubs along the way. He found the humongous gigantic trees he encountered earlier. He knew he would be by the lake anytime soon. The mud underneath his feet was getting mushier, and squishier which gave off a good sign. He wasn't getting lost.

Gohan could hear the rumbling of the falls by now. Quickening his movements, he slipped on the mud, landing right in front of the massive lake, separating some plants that lined against the sides of the water with his broad shoulders.

A mist of water sprayed against his face. Opening his eyes, his dark orbs met the crystal clear, bluish fluid on the ground.

He was also met by a sight of Videl, on the other side of the lake by the falls.

And she was naked.

Gohan's eyes widened.

'I thought she was getting a drink,' Gohan though. 'Not a bath.'

He tried to move, but found to his dismay he couldn't. His legs were caught within some dangly plants and if he made a slightly aggressive move, he was afraid Videl would see him and think he was stalking her.

Gohan sighed. He could plan something out. Her back was turned to him and the water came above her hips. Nothing can be really seen, so he was safe right?

Just then, Videl turned around to face him. Fortunately, her eyes were closed.

Gohan's in turn got even bigger, almost as big as the 'two' things he saw.

Panicking, he ripped his legs apart from the shrubs and even if the ground was slippery, he stood up and ran as fast as he could without looking back. He had been noisy but she couldn't possible hear with all the noise the falls was making. He just hoped she didn't open her eyes.

-o-

Videl approached her best-friend, curiously looking at the expression on his face. It was as if he was in a trance, big eyes, mouth gapping. He wasn't even looking at her. He was looking at… nowhere.

"Hey Gohan!" she replied.

Gohan looked at her, the trance-like expression never fading from his face.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

The demi-Saiyan nodded.

"Sorry I took so long. I decided to take a bath."

"I know," Gohan whispered.

"Huh?"

Gohan shook his head immediately. "Nothing.'

Videl sighed. "We haven't had one for so long. Maybe you should go and take a bath as well."

"Is the water cold?"

"Yeah. Refreshing too."

The dark-eyed teen quickly stood up and headed for the lake.

Videl frowned at his fleeing figure. He was acting very strangely.

Crunching on an apple she got on the way back from the falls. It was around noon already and she still hadn't found any 'forces of evil'. It didn't even seem like anybody had been there on the island before them after Donkey Bruise-whatever. All Videl knows was that she was ready to kill someone if she doesn't get out of there.

The thought of murder slowly became a good idea as hunger took over her body. She could kill and animal to eat. And maybe, she could use some of the salty berries to give the meat a little taste.

Admitting to herself that the thought was nice, Videl went deeper into the forest, keeping her ears open to sounds coming from all directions. She didn't know which sound an edible animal can make, but she heard a couple of roaring sounds, chirping sounds, and sound that didn't seem like they're sounds at ll.

Hoping to hear a few clucking of a couple of chicken, Videl picked up a wood sick preparing herself to find some animals that would be tasty.

Then there was a sound.

A sound barely audible from all the other noises being produced.

She knew that sound.

She was being followed.

Videl pretended not to notice, not looking back, although stopping from her tracks. She knew an animal would back off if you were aware of its presence.

Ot maybe she was wrong.

A lion came out from hiding behind the dense leaves of some plants. Videl looked at it straight in the eye, but it still kept walking forward, its pace never wavering even when Videl placed the branch right in front of her.

It kept walking.

And walking.

Panicking inside herself and aiming poorly, Videl threw the stick at the lion, but it definitely didn't miss its head.

The stick came in contact right on the lion's forehead harshly. Grunting with the pain, it sprinted towards the city girl, then let out a ferocious growl.

Videl, who doesn't usually encounter untamed animals in her everyday life, thought of nothing better but to run.

She turned around, not really knowing where she was off to, but she kept running. She didn't dare look behind. The lion's breathing was highly audible.

Videl wasn't the usual type of person that would escape from trouble, but keeping in her mind that the islands was no ordinary island, she was quite unsure if the lion really was a lion.

Not noticing where she was heading, Videl had passed some bald bushes and an anthill. She went to her right, changing her course and kept running straight until her shoes imprinted on the mud below her feet and she could hear splashing water slightly.

Yet, she didn't slow down.

Not until her clothing got caught on some thorn bushes did she halted and turned around. To her surprise, she found no drooling lion in sight at all, making her ponder if there really was a lion following her in the first place.

Feeling angry all of a sudden, Videl thrashed around freeing herself from the hook-like leaves of the plants.

She walked grumpily forward, swearing under her breath at the sounds her shoes were making on the mud.

After a long while, she felt water sprayed on her face. She looked up to see her best friend enjoying himself on the lake.

And he was naked.

Blushing to no control, Videl turned right around and sprinted away from the falls as quickly as she could.

After feeling the muddy ground get firmer, her pace slowed down. She would have continued running just as fast if it hadn't been for the lion which was chasing her earlier to appear in front of her once again.

-o-

Gohan made his way back to the beach when not far away from the lake, he noticed Videl up sitting on a tree.

Chuckling to himself, Gohan called for her.

"Videl, what are you doing up there?"

Videl grunted. "There's a lion planning to eat me."

Her friend looked around him and focused his stare back at Videl.

"I don't see any lion." She told her.

"But if I come down, it'll come and snatch me."

Gohan sighed. "So when are you coming down?"

"I don't know."

So the teens waited. And waited. The stubborn Videl refused to go down even when Gohan told her that he was starving.

After a while, Videl felt a tickling sensation on her leg. She looked down just to see a rattle snake coiling itself by her ankle.

Forgetting that she had been balancing herself on her foot, she swiftly kicked the snake away.

Falling from the tree, the snake hit the ground without much effect. On the contrary, Videl lost her balance and followed the snake down, dropping on top of Gohan.

She hit his hard, muscular chest harshly, landing tummy to tummy, chest to chest, and lips to lips…

AN: Well, there you go. I hope you guys find it a cliff-hanger. If you didn't, it's fine. Just please review. Thanx. Tell me what you think. I really need those as an inspiration. Thank you again. I might not update for a while, but I WILL. Please review. 


	5. More Weird Stuff And A Clue

AN: AAHHH! I'm sorry I haven't updated for such a LONG time. I know you guys were expecting this chapter, and I'm apologizing in advance if it may not turn out to your liking. I really try my hardest in this stuff so please don't take it too hard on me.

This chapter will contain quite a lot of romance in the beginning. It's my first time writing a big kissing scene so you guys will just have to be a little more considerate. I hope you'll like it though. I've had a really hard time thinking of the plot for this chapter. Fortunately, here it is!

Thank you so much for all of your reviews. Just like last chapter, if you signed in for a review, I would have sent you e-mail. If you didn't, I'll be thanking you here. If I didn't receive an e-mail from me, and I didn't write a short response to you, please let me know immediately. I feel very badly when I don't thank my reviewers.

Vincent Wilson: Thank you so much for that nice review. I'm sorry I took so long to update.

xcrappy1x: Thanks you for the review.

* * *

Chapter 5: More Weird Stuff And A Clue

The fire crackled away, browning the still raw meat set above it. A piece of lion meat rubbed over with the salty berries and other herbs was pierced on a stick hovering above the leaking heat of the fire. It won't be enough for both of the teenagers, but at least it would ease the sweet sting of hunger.

Neither of them talked much after Videl dropped from the tree. As a matter of fact, they hadn't spoken a word at all.

Until Gohan decided to break the silence.

"You know, we got to talk about it sooner or later."

Videl sighed. She squeezed out a few drops of juice from a berry into a coconut shell. "Sure," she replied. "Because I don't want to talk about it now."

The demi-Earthling tore his gaze away from the girl in front of him, concentrating on the big mass above his head instead. The sky had become a dull shade of orangey-pink, blending it to a purplish blue until it just fixed into a plain shade of navy by the east. He bit his lower lip and tried again.

"It was just an accident,"

Videl's head automatically shot up, her eyes in a glare that pinned up her 'friend'.

"Accident?" she mocked, "My fall was an accident. What happened after was… well, I don't know what you call it, but it isn't an accident.

Gohan looked down on his hands, clasped together by his knees. She was right. He thought a moment back on to when the incident happened, hoping to spot something accidental.

FLASHBACK

Gohan felt Videl's soft lips land upon his. He felt nothing else. It was as if only her lips had existed and the rest of her body parts had disappeared from the face of the earth. Even if the gravity were fifty-seven times stronger, he wouldn't have felt anything else land on him.

Slowly, he began moving his own lips against hers, then unintentionally or even unknowingly bringing his hands up to her head so that he could pin it down harder.

They were on the ground, he knew. Slowly, even more slowly than the way his lips had started to caress hers, he rolled her over until he was more than half way on top of her.

His actions intensified, suddenly unaware of who he was lavishing. But it didn't matter to him. For the first time since he came there almost one and a half days ago, he was experiencing something that he finally enjoyed. He didn't care if he was the _only _one who was enjoying it.

Soon, he found himself mouth opened, feeling warm puffs of breath underneath him right at his mouth.

Suddenly, Gohan felt squirming underneath him. Two hands grabbed his own heavy ones and pulled them away slightly hinting obvious struggling.

The two hands came up to his head, stroking his hair slightly. For a second, it seemed like she was coaxing him to go on, until one of the hands grabbed a handful of his silky ebony locks and yanked his head away from hers.

Opening his eyes as an immediate reaction, Gohan became astonished to see a shocked, half-disgusted expression from the foxy teen beneath him.

END OF FLASHBACK

Gohan frowned. Okay, so maybe jumping to that kind of situation wasn't the best idea he'd ever had, but couldn't he still get some credit for trying to send out some of his affections?

"Look," Gohan stated barely in a whisper. "I don't know what's gotten into me. I shouldn't have done that at all. I guess all I'm trying to say is I'm sorry."

Videl was silent, making Gohan assume that she was too angry to the point of ignoring him.

After a few uncomfortable minutes, Videl finally spoke.

"At least we got the lion." She replied, and then chuckled softly.

Slowly, from where she was sitting, Videl reached over and gripped the stick piercing the lion meat. The teen pulled it away from the extreme heat. It was brown enough to eat.

Pinching a small piece, Videl popped the small meat into her mouth, tasting a new type of food for the first time. She nodded her head slowly, admitting to herself that it wasn't too bad tasting.

She handed the rest of the meat over to Gohan who was salivating at the moment.

After they had eaten most of the meat, they disposed of the lion's dead body and headed off to rest.

Videl had gotten used to the harsh and coarse surface of the beach. The sand irritated her skin sometimes, but made a good massager to her feet. Within seconds, she fell in a deep slumber.

Gohan lied down beside his friend's limp form. He had one heck of a day!

Within the few hours of the morning, he had ridden an emotional roller coaster. Finding the treasure chest of the Bruisetree guy boggled his mind for quite a while. Then having seen Videl taking a bath in the lake evoked emotions he had hardly felt before. He became so confused on whether he should let his Saiyan side take over- which never happened to him in _that_ way- or to just act normal and pretend nothing had ever happened.

He was very well aware of which side he took.

Gohan sighed. At least she was no longer angry.

Kissing Videl probably had the most irritating affect on him. He felt so good, yet so guilty. So complete, yet so regretful. So happy, but so mistaken.

Running a large hand over his hair as if an attempt to clear his head, he sighed over again and looked up at the sky. There were a lot of stars tonight.

He had no clue as to when they'd be able to get out of the island. He hoped to dig out more information from the Bruisetree chest. Any signs, codes or sequence would be helpful, anything that can let them escape.

Videl grunted at his side, distracting the young man from his deep ponderings. He rolled over so that he faced Videl's back.

Slowly, he lifted up his hand and rubbed her arm. She moaned softly then shivered slightly as the wind passed over them.

Gohan winced. The nights were one of those aching times where he wished they were back home. It could get terribly cold sometimes when the wind rushed from the ocean. Unfortunately, they only had a few clothing, not even enough to cover both teens fully.

Gohan's shirt had gone several inches shorter, with strips taken away for Videl's bandage.

The teen-aged boy wrapped both of his arms around Videl's middle and pulled her closer for a warm, protective embrace.

-o-

"Gohan, wake up!"

"Yeah Mom, I'll be right down with you." Gohan mumbled.

"Gohan. Wake up! I think it's late."

Gohan bolted right from sleep.

"It's late?"

"Yeah!" Videl's voice popped from his side. "The sun's almost directly over us."

Gohan stared at Videl unconsciously for a while and everything came back to his memories once again. Man! He still had to get used waking up in the island.

"Good morning, Videl." He mumbled, then gagged as she forced a leafy object in his mouth.

"Chew it." She ordered. "Then spit it out after a couple of minutes. It freshens your breath!"

Only a millisecond after, Gohan spat the plant out the plant along with some unwanted fluid taste from his mouth.

He shot Videl a dumbfounded stare mixed with annoyance and shock. It would be the same face he'd give Donkey Bruisetree if he'd ever meet up with him.

Videl returned it with an innocent your-breath-smells-bad look.

Gohan sighed irritably. "You're like my brother sometimes."

"You owe me, just in case you forgot," Videl stated.

Gohan lost his expression immediately as he remembered his wild actions the previous day. Was this something he had to be guilty of the rest of his life?

Gohan felt Videl's silky hand grab his own softly.

"Actually, you don't" he heard her whisper. "I don't mind what you did… anymore."

The demi-Saiyan's attention was snatched swiftly with the particular subject and he raised an eyebrow on her.

"Why not? That was very inappropriate of me."

Videl shook her head slowly. She looked as if she was thinking twice about what she's going to say.

"No, Gohan. It wasn't. It-" she hesitated for a moment, then continued, trying her best to look him in the eye.

"Gohan I-"

Suddenly, cutting the young lady from her interesting articulation, the ground began to quake with immense force.

Both teens looked at the forest where the quake seemed to be coming from.

The sand beneath them started pulling away towards a crack in the ground. It was like watching water go in the drain after you'd unplug it.

After a couple of minutes, the ground beneath them had split apart and, like a blast of lightning, the crack continued expanding itself towards, then into eventually, the forest. Surprisingly, the crack only stayed in one line as if following a route.

The ground stopped shaking.

Both teens eyed each other warily; each seemed to be reading the other's mind. The young couple steadied themselves on their feet and started striding cautiously, following the crack.

Entering the moist forest, they noticed something new, slightly awkward in the forest. It was extremely quiet. No chirpings, growling of any kind, or other animal sound. The usual squealing of their shoes with the contact with mud wasn't even in existence any longer. It was as quiet as a deserted planet standing alone in a galaxy.

Gohan and Videl found themselves being led towards the lake and falls by the crack.

Strangely, the crack seemed to disappear when it reached the bountiful lake.

"Maybe the crack goes on inside the lake," Videl replied.

"Let's check it out," Gohan suggested, discarding a few clothing and jumped into the cook, mesmerizing sensation of the water.

"Come on in!" he called out to his friend.

Offended, Videl found herself once again ready to pull Gohan's tongue out and wrap it around his face.

"Gohan, HAVE YOU NO DECENCY?" she yelled, capturing the demi-Saiyan's attention head on.

"First you attack me with your so called 'accident' and now you expect me to take off my clothes?"

Gohan smirked. "I never ordered you to strip, Videl." he shot back. 'Although, I'd just love to see you to.' Gohan's saiyan side responded to himself with an afterthought.

However, the smirked was wiped off his face immediately and the seventeen-year-old exchanged it with a mask of partly hurt, disappointed and slightly angry.

"But if you consider that accident an attack, that you were hurt so much, why not call it a harassment instead for 'better' wording?"

With that, Gohan dived in the waters, leaving Videl stunned by his words.

-o-

The crack indeed went on through the walls of the lake. It led them around, to where the falls was and right behind it the crack ended just to the side of a hollow cave.

Strangely enough, the cave wasn't even filled with water even though it's wide open and the waters flowed gently towards it. It seemed as if the opening of the cave had an invisible barrier across it, just like the one that prevented that teens from leaving the island.

This shield however, allowed Gohan and Videl to enter the cave without much trouble, surprising them even more when they found themselves dry even after swimming.

"This is weird." Gohan replied, once he was able to breathe again, finding it believable that the cave was filled with air.

"You should've expected something like this already," Videl commented. Gohan did not respond.

The couple crawled deeper into the narrow cave, illuminated with rocks lighting their way just like glow sticks.

Not far into the cave, they came face to face with a dead end.

Sighing irritated, Gohan roughly leaned himself at the rock wall of the cave. He was expecting something worthwhile in this cave, like a clue. But here they were, and they found nothing.

Videl was thinking of the same thing. "I don't think this is all there is," she replied. "If there was a weird earthquake that led us to this strange cave, there must be something it's trying to tell us, don't you think?"

Videl looked at her friend, who for the first time, wasn't listening to what she said. He looked as if he was deeply in though. And in fact, he was.

Videl joined him and sat by the opposite wall, closing her eyes for a while. She let her hands drop to her side feeling the cool smooth ground of the cave.

By her left side, her fingers suddenly felt small indents graved on the floor.

Opening her eyes, she looked down and noticed marks only a few centimeters away from the sides of he cave, but they went around the circumference of the floor.

"Gohan look!"

The demi-saiyan turned his gaze towards where hers was. Crawling slowly, he began to feel the small, engraved symbols under his touch as well.

"Whoa. Just when I though there was nothing here," Gohan whispered.

The two teens examined the strange writings. They seemed ancient, yet both couldn't figure out which culture it could be from. If possible, it seemed as if somebody just made them up.

After a while of observing, the couple surrendered and finally stopped trying to figure out what the symbols meant. Both crawled out of the cave and were met with thte cold tocuh of the water from the lake once again. They swam slowly over to the more shallow part of the lake.

Videl was the first one to reach the sruface. She took a sharp inhale and within seconds, Gohan's head shot up from below the water, his face just inches away from hers.

Their eyes locked for a moment, but time seemed to go slower for that small amount of time. Videl saw Gohan's eyes flash her a strange look, and she suddenly remembered that it was the same look he gave her just before they found the cave.

"Why can't you just tell me?" she heard him whisper.

"Tell you what?" she asked, although very well aware of what he was referring to.

Gohan shook his head desperately. "Please stop pretending." He begged sounding disappointed. He took off to the sky, leaving Videl to ponder about what he told her.

* * *

AN: There you go! I'm sorry I haven't updated for so long and this is all I've got. School has been a drag and I'm really trying to improve my grades. Please don't expect another chapter out soon. I'll try to get one out each month, but I can't guarantee you that there'll be one for April. Well, I hope you liked this chapter. If you don't know what Gohan was talking about in the end (and I know it was a very cheesy ending) don't worry because you'll find out soon.

Oh yeah! I'm also planning to delete Torn Apart since having that story undone, makes me feel pressured. I usually don't have an uncompleted story while writing another fic. It's the first time that it happened to me. Besides, it doesn't look like I have a lot of hits for that story. If you would like me to leave it on, please tell me. However, if there are only a few people, I'm pretty sure I'm going to delete it anyway. Still voice out your opinion please. Don't worry. I have lots of other great, mischievous plots for other fics.

I need real nice help with my writing. I could use a bit of advice about my vocabulary.


	6. Cannibalism

AN: I'm sorry for the long wait. I posted another story in place of Torn Apart and it's doing very well. After this chapter, I'll update that story. I'm sort of in writer's block for both of my fics right now. I think that's because I need to focus more on my school works which are, believe me, not very easy to do. Well, for now I hope that this chapter would be enough for you guys. I'll see you soon.

BlueNightGVZ2341: Thank you for that advice about my vocabulary. Even for myself, I think that there's nothing wrong with my vocabulary, but somehow, I keep on getting 70 in writing at school, so I thought that there must be something wrong. Thanks for the review.

Vincent Wilson: I'm sorry that this update was so late. But vacation's in a month, so I might be able to update sooner next time. Thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 6: Cannibalism 

Videl silently walked back to the beach, deeply in thought about the event that occurred just a little earlier by the lake. Those three last words that had come out of his mouth disturbed her greatly. She knew what he wanted from her and what he wanted to know. For the first time ever, Gohan seemed to really need something from her; something that she could easily give, yet she felt afraid to.

A bit of guilt lined her mind for pretending to be clueless, however it did save her from a possibility of great humiliation or embarrassment.

Slowly starting to feel the coarse sensation of the sand beneath her feet, Videl shifted her attention towards the demi-Saiyan silently sitting on the beach eyeing the lazy waves pass by.

Calmly, the raven-haired female paced towards the usually goofy young man.

"Gohan," she replied softly.

The male teen turned his head gazing a frown at her way.

Videl was taken aback by how quickly the demi-Saiyan's mood changed from the start of the day till now. She guessed that the topic affected him more than she first thought. For a little while she was at lost of words but just as Gohan's attention was about to shift back to the boring sea ahead, she decided to add on.

"Uh-umm, I'll go… I want to explore the island a little further inland."

Gohan snapped his head back, giving no response to the female behind him

Videl gulped heavily before turning around expecting nothing from him any longer. She decided that a lone time would do both of them some good.

-o-

A sharp point of a splinted stone brushed against the coarse texture of a tree trunk, burning it with friction. A slight line of bark was removed. The stone started rubbing diagonally the other way until a clear cross mark was created.

Videl sighed. Thinking about wandering further inside made her aware that there would be a possibility that she could get lost. Marking some trees would decrease that chance. The sixteen-year-old decided to head for a northern route from the falls. She could still spot a bit of the gleaming lake and could definitely still hear the rumbling noise the falls create when coming in contact with the water below.

Just looking at the cool rushing water reminded her of Gohan taking a bath right there. A small blush crept its way into her cheeks until the thought of never seeing Gohan like that again made it slightly fade. Not that she wanted or needed to see Gohan naked. She didn't. She would just like to see him be carefree around her again. Soon. He'll probably stay angry at her for a long while until she admits what he wanted her to admit. If he wanted to hear it from her so badly, why can't he confess first?

Then a sudden thought struck Videl. It was the same usual thought that she'd have whenever she fantasizes about Gohan.

He knew. He knew that she loves him. Why would he want her to admit it to him so badly? For confirmation? Then after that, what? He would be sure that she felt for him as more than a friend. Then, he could laugh at her about thinking that she's good enough for a Saiyan. It wasn't like Gohan to act like that, though. Yet, there's still a great chance for her to be rejected. That's why, she wouldn't admit it to him, no matter what until he admits that he loves her as well. There were signs, definitely. But he was very clueless and naïve, that it's almost hard to tell if he's doing his favorable actions towards the azure-eyed female for courtesy or for love. It was very confusing.

Videl headed off further inside the forest, appointing another tree to mark.

-o-

Gohan looked intently at the waves. They were so stable. Just like his friendship with Videl. It didn't decrease. But it also didn't increase. The seventeen-year-old peeled his eyes off of the waters and transferred them to the sky above, with the same shade of blue.

Videl's eyes were the same hues as well.

He inhaled deeply, and wished that it could be as serene as this all of the time. With no warning almost every time, an immensely powerful villain or monster would pop out of nowhere, destroying almost everything it could, especially relationships of the Earth's greatest hero's. They're the reason why my Mom and my Dad has had too many troubles with their love life. They're the reason why Vegeta must always spend time in the stupid

GR instead of spending it with his family. Yes, training runs in a Saiyan's blood, but he could be more like Goku.

The truth was that Gohan's scared. He was scared that when everything would finally flow smoothly, and that everything was nice, something would come up and take the peace away.

He had always been there to see how his mother grieved every single time that his father would go and there was always a chance of him not coming back. What if that happens to him? What if he was really needed in battle and he had to leave Videl when their relationship was going smoothly? To see her hurt the way his Mom did would be unbearable.

He knew though that even if he'd never tell her that he loves her, she'd still love him no matter what. She'd still hurt if he goes away and gets himself killed. There must be a way to tell her that he loves her, have a good relationship with nothing to get in the way, other than making Videl stop loving him.

'Well, if we would be stuck here for the rest of our lives, then nothing _would _get in the way.' Gohan thought.

-o-

It was another ridge upon piles of stable rocks. It had always been like this for quite a while now.

However, Videl could almost see the top. Walking half a mile from the lake led her to a large, rocky hill. It was almost like a mountain for when she tried to walk around it, to her surprise, she found that no matter how she rounded off the hill, she was getting to nowhere. It was probably one of the strange workings of the island.

Videl winced slightly as another stone stumbled from a higher elevation and hit her foot. This was getting annoying and she knew that over that hill, there was something more that the island needed to reveal. There must be some reason as to why the guy wrote that note. It wouldn't make sense if the island was just a normal island, and so far, it hadn't been.

After a couple more scratches on her hand, Videl finally got enough and decided to fly. She slowly rose from the rocky mound until her feet couldn't touch any more solid ground. She slowly made her way to the top of the hill, and in no time she could see the flat top.

She noticed that the top was not at all like she expected. It was as if there was another land on top of the hill and the inner part of the flat top was not covered in grass. It was sandy and rocky. There were so many trees, much lusher than the ones below. The place looked inhabited.

By the sight of this, the sixteen year old knew that she would be better off if she hid behind the high shrubs for a little while. Something told her that it was not all that safe to charge straight away to the middle. It was as if she knew she was being watched.

And in fact, she was.

For what seemed like a couple of hours, Videl finally noticed something moving from out of the trees. She shook herself from the sleep taking over her. She still hid behind the bushes as the she watched intently at what she was seeing.

A dark skinned man wearing hardly anything, just a plain cloth wrapped around his waist bounded over to the clearing, carrying pieces of wood. He set them down right in the middle of the ground, before making his way back where he had been before.

Soon, after a couple of minutes or so, several other men, dressed just like the first one started to emerge from behind the tall trees, adding to the collection of wood. Three men, after a long while, came with a big black metal cauldron and set it on top of the pile of woods.

Being too rapt up watching the even unfold in front of her, Videl hardly noticed that there were two men of the same kind sneaking up behind her. They suddenly grabbed her arms and her torso, carrying her out of her hiding place.

"Hey, hey let go of me!" Videl ordered, barely aware that these people couldn't understand her. She tried to twist her body around so as to get their grip loosen up, but it didn't work. The female fighter rounded a kick to the side of one of the men, but he didn't budge at all. Their grasps were of stone, and their bodies were like metal, unable to feel her attacks at all, it seems.

They led her forward, her struggling and perky movement attracting the attention of everyone else around.

Suddenly, the men stopped, right in front of the cauldron. The weird people scattered on the clearing were silent as well, but after a couple of minutes, started hollering very loud. They began chanting words that Videl couldn't understand, while some hollered still, and others laughed.

The man on her right, raised his hand, and immediately, the others became silent.

"Lalc oru Pitcaan. Odanrl ash nudof meosneo. Lalc mih! Lalc mih!" he replied. (AN: Try unscrambling the letters to find out what he's saying. Odanrl is a name.)

With this, one woman from the clearing started running away into the forest of the hill.

The man spoke once again. "Ew liwl itaw."

The two men dragged the female forward towards an old woman sitting by the side of the clearing. She was suited in many fabrics of different kinds; around her neck were talismans and some sort of wooden symbols. In her hands were herbs. She stood up slowly and approached them.

"Od ont roryw." She replied as she raised the herbs towards Videl's face.

The sixteen-year old girl struggled out of the men's tight grip, but couldn't get away. The plant was almost on her face now

Three inches…

Two inches…

One inch…

Then everything went black…

-o-

Videl awoke to loud sounds surrounding her. She felt as if she had fallen asleep for three days. Fortunately, no pain emerged from her body. This was a good sign. She wasn't hurt.

Listening intently to her background, she decided that the best way to figure out things was to pretend she was still asleep or unconscious. There were conversations going on around her, yet she couldn't understand one single word being said.

After a couple of minutes of trying to comprehend anything, the impatient young lady opened up her eyes to the dark black star-less sky. There was one single source of light from where she lay. She tried to get up, but to her to her horror, found that she had been bind to the ground on some pieces of wood. Her arms were tied up with strong strings and so were her legs.

She struggled to get free, but to her surprise, she didn't win against nature. Unfortunately, her aggressive motions just brought attention to her form.

A man, who she realized was the same man who was talking, looked at her and smirked. He didn't look a least bit attracting. He had smudged dirt all over his face. He paced towards her, before calling back on the others. The place became silent once again. Everybody rushed to Videl's tied form, three men, including the dirt-faced one lifted up the pieces of wood she was ties to.

The sixteen-year-old began to panic, realizing that for the second time in the island, she was completely helpless.

'Why didn't I stay with Gohan?' she thought guiltily.

She felt herself being carried further inland. She tried to see where she was being taken, but there had been a band across her forehead that kept her head down on the wood. She could only hope that they weren't going to kill her.

Soon, they stopped, in front of a grassy, tree-less field. But it wasn't empty…

-o-

Gohan lied on the coarse beige sand. It was a cold night, and no matter how offended he was about what Videl kept trying to pull off, he was starting to get a little worried about her.

A little, huh.

The demi-Saiyan looked attentively about his surroundings every time there was a hustle in the bushes or a gentle tapping on the ground. However, he'd end up disappointed seeing that it was only a small nocturnal animal trying to catch its prey.

He slowly got up from his lying form on the sand. He looked about him once again, thinking twice about going in inside the forest. If Videl would come back and not find him there, she would probably go inside the forest as well, but staying in one place wouldn't help anybody. Gohan was much too anxious to stay put. There's a chance that Videl might come back, but there's also a chance that she's in trouble and she needed his help at the moment.

Making up his resolve, Gohan paced towards the dark forest, silhouettes swallowing his form.

-o-

Wide-eyed, Videl horrifyingly stared at what seemed like skeletons of decayed people; people who had been tied just like her, in the same position, with almost exactly the same structures of wood.

She examined the bodies- there were only five- but that was five too many for what Videl had in mind. Of course, she had expected trouble, but not this. No, no, no.

The female was carried over to the middle of the field, the five corroded bodies behind her. The men who had been carrying her settled her down onto the ground. They carefully (surprisingly) placed her on an upright position so that the wood that her feet were attached to were slightly buried under the soft soil.

Then, they went away, joining the people who stared at Videl.

Everyone became quiet, as a tall burly man came in the middle of the crowd. By the way he walked or even the way he was structured, he seemed like as if he was more of a higher rank than the people Videl had encountered so far.

He gazed upon her, walking slowly, but when he was close enough, he stretched out his hand and rubbed something across the flawless cheek of the young woman.

Videl flinched, but to no avail. He kept spreading the sticky substance all over her face. After a while, he stepped back and walked towards the people.

He announces something in a thunderous voice, and from what Videl was trying to comprehend, it was as if they had decided to make her a sacrifice.

But for what?

Or for whom?

The sixteen-year old watched intently at the commotion happening before her eyes. There was no longer whispering or any conversation at set, but instead, steady and rhythmic actions from the people. Gradually, each and every one of them started to be still, until the only one who was moving was the burly man.

He knelt down a few feet before her, his arms stretched out away from his body. He whispered something, and as if he had commanded the earth to be a slave, once he started pulling his arms from each other, a crack from the man to Videl had appeared on the ground.

The further his arms became, the bigger the earth seemed to pull apart, until he could no longer push his arms away. However, the crack had become a hole, big enough to swallow the five dead people behind Videl at the same time.

The female couldn't resist looking down at the hole and once she saw what was in it, she wished she hadn't.

It seemed as if the Earth itself had opened up. Molten lava bubbled in the hole –which was probably half a kilometer deep- and smoke rose every now and then.

'Oh, no. They better not put me in there.'

However, Videl was hoping for too much.

* * *

AN: Whooo! Now I got that one over with! I'm so so sorry. I hope that this chapter was enough for you guys. I know that it had a bunch of crap all over it, but that was because I had a writer's block for a while (and that's when I came up with Sticks and Stones). It's funny because the people who seemed to like this story never reviewed for Sticks and Stones and those who like that story usually don't review this one. I guess different genres attract different people. 

School's being way too much, so probably I'm not going to update until vacation. Expect a chapter out soon three weeks from now (probably) for Sticks and Stones, though. Well, that's it for now!

The language that the people were saying is basically scrambled words. Try unsrambling them to find out what they were saying. 

Bye Bye!


	7. But I Do Love You

AN: Thank you so much for all of the reviews for chapter 6. I loved reading all of them. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to update any sooner. Anyway, stand by this chapter and bear with me because I'm not very good in writing action stuff. Well, let's get it going, but first, some reviewers I need to thank. The others should have gotten the reply I wrote. If you didn't, let me know, k?

A.O.Y.U: Thank you for all of those pointers. Some writers really need those.

Vincent: You're welcome. Thanks for reviewing again. I hope you'll like this chapter.

I hope _all_ of you guys will like this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 7: But I Do Love You

Videl stared wildly upon the growing hole in front of her. The immense heat was already starting to rise up to her struggling body, as the strange man continued on with his movements.

The crack pushed forth towards Videl until the soil in front of her caved in, tumbling down to the boiling lava below. The terrified teen closed her eyes as she prepared for the falling sensation she would soon feel. The cracked widened even more.

The pieces of wood that had been holding on to Videl fell when the soil beneath her gave way. To her surprise, she seemed to be falling down very slowly. It was as if something was still holding her, lowering her only a bit every time. The band across her head prevented her from moving her head.

The heat began to increase as she was lowered down the trench, the steam almost burning her skin. Suddenly, she felt being violently jerked, and her head was knocked onto something hard. As a result of this, she blacked out.

-o-

Gohan paced quickly about the dense forest, groping around the darkened atmosphere. No matter how good his Saiyan senses were, they were somehow being overshadowed by the 'weirdness' of this island. He couldn't even sense her ki any longer!

As he went deeper into the thick mass of trees, he began to hear the tumbling of the falls and knew that that was the farthest he and Videl had ever gone and anywhere beyond that would be totally new to him. He would have quite a hard time trying to find his way through. For one thing, he had no clue where his best friend is!

The ground beneath him started becoming firmer as he left the muddy soil surrounding the lake.

'Well, I guess I better trust my instinct now.' He thought.

He rounded left after smelling an atrocious aroma of a dead animal; whatever that was. He had no intention of finding out. He didn't take any more turns until the air started to moisten and his skin picked up the rising temperature of the environment. It wasn't the type of heat that you'd feel during summer. It was that kind that you'd feel when somebody builds a gigantic campfire, plus it only was coming from one place.

Relying on his senses, Gohan quickly followed the warm temperature. Eventually, he found himself on the base of a rather large hill.

'I've got a strong feeling that Videl's up there.' He thought.

The young demi-Saiyan began to rise off of his feet to fly in attempt to reach the top a lot faster. He kept his head up to make sure he was heading the right way.

…And he kept his head up for almost ten minutes.

The teenager frowned. Why was he not getting at the top? It was as if he had been staying in one place. He looked down, and to his surprise, he had been. He had not gone at least three feet away from the ground.

A mask of confusion and embarrassment plastered to his face, Gohan landed softly on the grassy soil. Wonder what he must have looked like. It felt like he flew using his Super-Saiyan speed and he could definitely feel the wind blowing against his body… yet he hadn't moved a single inch.

With no other choice left, Gohan began to climb the rocky hill, having the same troubles as Videl had. He was slightly disappointed with the minutes he had wasted 'flying'. If Videl had indeed been in trouble, those minutes were valuable time.

After some time, the demi-Saiyan eventually reached the top of the hill, finding the clearing his best-friend had found a few hours ago; however, owning a different feeling than she did. He felt totally safe to explore inward.

He paced quickly but surely, making sure that he wouldn't pass right by Videl. He was about to turn right, when a noise on his left attracted his attention. He headed off to where he had heard the sound. It was a sizzling sort of noise, and every now and then, he would hear some bubbling.

After several minutes of bounding through trees, Gohan came to a stop in front of a grassy and tree-less field. What lay before his eyes astounded him.

His feelings were right. Videl was there in that place, but she wasn't alone. A whole bunch of people were surrounding her. However, she wasn't in a very good position, and it was also the place that explained why Gohan was feeling so much heat.

There was a large, black cauldron set on a pile of burning wood. Whatever was inside it, was boiling madly, and somehow, Gohan actually thought that he could smell the sweet scent of a stew. Above it, Videl was tied, hanging from a tree.

His eyes got wide with the sight, and immediately knew what was going on. These people were cannibals!

He watched intently, only deciding to take action when they started lowering his friend down into the pot.

He blasted a small and fairly weak ki towards the people as he jumped and grabbed Videl from the tree. They both stumbled down on the hard grassy ground. Gohan stood up and looked around, only finding to his surprise that the cannibals were knocked out cold.

'Guess they're not as strong as they look like,' the seventeen-year-old thought.

-o-

Gohan slowly laid Videl down on the soft grassy soil beside the lake. She hadn't woken up yet from being unconscious. The demi-Saiyan walked over to the pool of water, took some in his cupped hand, and splashed it on his friend's face.

He took his now empty hand and rubbed it across her face, wiping a sticky substance that hadn't been there when he last saw her. He guessed that it must have been placed there by the cannibals.

Deliberately, the young vixen started to wake. She fluttered her eyelids before completely opening her eyes, seeing the dark and cool environment she was in.

She suddenly stood up straight, snapping her head to see where she was. Relieved though that the sight of the lava wasn't there, she still had a few more questions.

"What happened?" she asked the demi-Saiyan beside her.

Gohan gave her a wary look. "You mean, you don't remember anything?"

Videl looked aside for a moment, as if trying to recall what she could. "Well, I remember people talking this weird language… and they made me pass out… then they took me to this place…"

Her eyes became wide-eyed and she gasped. "The five dead bodies! I remember them… and the opening earth, and the extreme heat from that bubbling lava!"

"Don't you mean stew?" Gohan asked quietly. Videl, didn't hear it though. She was too busy trying to analyze everything. She was turning more hysterical by the second!

"Them! Those cruel people! They were going to lower me down into the… the burning… oh it was so hot, I still remember- and oh my head got hit by I don't know what, but it really really hurts!"

Gohan took her shoulder and shook her slightly.

"Videl! Calm down! First of all I can't really understand what you're saying, and even if I could, I have no clue about any of this."

The sixteen-year-old female took a few relaxing breaths and looked her best-friend in the eye.

"I think they were going to make me some kind of sacrifice or something." She told him, but received a rather disbelieving look.

"Looks more like they were going to eat you." He replied.

"What are you talking about? There was a trench right in front of me, and they were about to put me into the molten lava, and you say they were trying to cook me?"

"Uh, yeah. Pretty much so."

"So, they were going to cook me in that trench?"

"I don't know about that trench you're talking about. Actually, I don't know _anything_ you're talking about. What I saw is you tied on a tree, hanging above a boiling cauldron set alight."

Videl looked at him as if he was from a different planet… oh wait, he was. However, from the very back of her mind, she recalled the people taking out a cauldron when she was still watching them coming out from trees. Maybe Gohan was telling the truth.

"Then how come I remember a completely different event?" she asked him, a bit more confused but calmer than before.

"I don't know, but you were knocked out, weren't you?" the young man asked his friend.

"Yeah. Now that I think about it, this woman made me sniff these kinds of herbs."

"Maybe they're hallucinogens, or at least something that made you see illusions."

Videl gasped. "You mean I was drugged?"

"No! I'm just saying that maybe when you were unconscious, your mind was playing an illusion to make you believe something else than what's really happening."

"Perhaps. That heat I felt was maybe because of the boiling stew you mentioned."

Gohan nodded.

For a while, nobody said something. Gohan wasn't really in the mood to talk since he was still quite upset about what happened in the afternoon. Videl on the other hand, was still too stunned to say anything. She couldn't believe that she almost got eaten by some strange habitants of the weird island. She couldn't believe either that no matter how angry Gohan was with her, he still took the time to find her and actually save her.

"Gohan, look." She replied coolly to bring the demi-Saiyan's attention towards her. "Whatever I could have said about your abrupt behaviour last night, please don't mind that anymore. I'm sorry I said them."

Gohan looked her in her eyes. The moon- which was awfully large that night- shone off light to her eyes, accenting the pure shade of blue orbs before him. They were so full of sincerity.

"I'm sorry, huh?" he replied back, but this time, not as serious as Videl had expected. "Is that your way of saying thank you?"

Videl chuckled, knowing that her friend was finally relaxed and in the mood of actually quite joking around.

"Maybe," she said. "Maybe not. Maybe I'm just truly sorry for what I said."

Gohan looked away for a second, staring at the sparkly waters of the lake. The moon really did wonders at night, no matter where they are, not even in a strange island that wouldn't let them get away.

"And I do mean it too." He heard his foxy friend say.

"No," the Demi protested. "I should be the one who's sorry." He whispered only for her ears to hear. He quickly caught a glimpse of his mistake the other night. What he did was perverted, and he shouldn't let the love of his life accept the blame for it.

Videl shook her head, though knowing that he wasn't looking at her anyway.

"Don't beat yourself up over it. As you said, it was a mistake. You learn from your mistakes, don't you? I know I do." She stated gently. She knew that her half-alien friend had a bad habit of accusing himself of something that wasn't his fault. The last thing she needs after having cannibals practically cook her for dinner was her best-friend of two and a half months crawl under a shell for the rest of his life, begging her to forgive him, and torturing his mind about something that she really didn't mind having done.

The eldest son transferred his sight back to his female friend and frowned.

"Yeah right. Then how come you were so mad? You ignored me for complete several hours, and now you're saying it's fine? I don't understand something here." Gohan replied.

Videl sighed. This conversation reminded her of the same talk they both had before the earthquake hit. She knew how she could solve this thing… it would only take a bit of courage.

"Videl, really, you don't have to cover up for the foolish things I've done." Gohan stated back. "I mean, I've been doing such silly things all my life!"

"I love you." She whispered.

"And then you came and started fixing them for me. I don't need someone to do that."

"I love you,"

"My Mom would be very disappointed in me, after raising me the best that she could, and yet I don't know how to be responsible for my-"

"Gohan, I love you." Videl almost shouted.

A few birds flew overhead by the sudden sound, but it definitely caught the attention of the babbling Saiyan.

A small smile cracked on his lips. "What?"

Videl closed her eyes and gulped. He was making things harder for her. "I said I love you." She replied a lot quieter.

The demi-Saiyan stared at her. Her eyes were teary and he could absolutely see the great effort she put in trying to not let her tears come out. However, behind those, all he could see was pure honesty, and he didn't have to doubt anything else.

"Remember what I was going to tell you before the weird earthquake happened?"

He nodded slowly.

"It was just like this. Everything we said just now was so similar, and I knew that if I tell you I love you, you would stop feeling guilty about kissing me." The young lady stammered, her voice cracking every now and then.

Gohan was shocked. Of all the times that she could have told him, he didn't at all expect it to happen right then. He took his eyes off of her for a quick second, and thought about what had just occurred, completely oblivious to the awkwardness and nervousness he was giving Videl at the moment.

He looked back at her, and noticed that already one tear had trickled its way down her smooth cheek, and all of her attention was focused on the dirt soil. Just the look of her made him forget everything, even the loving phrase she had just said.

He scooted over to the weeping girl and scooped her up in his arms in a warming bear hug.

"Don't cry," he whispered to her, rubbing her back gently.

That wasn't what she was expecting to hear, and for a second, all of her hope crumbled down, when she thought that he was trying to avoid the subject by comforting her. He wasn't though.

When for several minutes he hadn't said anything else. Videl gave up and realized that she just may have made the biggest of her whole life. She broke down into a shuddering sob and buried her head into his chest even more.

Gohan was taking aback by her outburst, but could do nothing more than keep her warm and tell her that everything was alright now. He chose wisely not to bring up the cannibals, and how she was safe from them. He also thought that her sudden break down was probably because of being stuck in the island for a lot longer than they expected.

But all he had to say was those exact same three words.

After quite a while, Videl had gone into a deep slumber, resting against Gohan. He gently leaned his body on a tree watching the moon slowly creep its way through the cloud and how it affected the glow on the lake. Even if the falls was making quite a loud sound, he noticed that everything else was completely silent. He was about to fall asleep too, with nothing else interesting to listen to but Videl's steady breathing.

Before closing his eyes, he looked back at the sleeping girl in his arms, and finally said what she longed too hear.

"I love you too," he whispered and softly brushed his lips against hers.

He headed off straight to his slumber right after that.

Too bad Videl hadn't heard; but there would be plenty more time to talk when they wake up.

* * *

AN: And there you go! The secret's finally out! Well, I hope you guys like this chapter. I know it's not much, but please still review.

Do you guys think that I should just finish this story first before updating Sticks and Stones again? I worte this chapter in only a week, so if I write the other chapter in this rate, I would be able to finish this story in about the start of August or the middle of August. It's just that it's kind of hard double writing; I just wanted to try it, but I found it difficult. But don't worry. This won't be like Torn Apart which never got updated again. Sticks and Stones has so far my highest average of number of reviews, so it would be disappointing even to me to discontinue it. Besides, I've got chapter three for that story all planned out anyway.

Well, this is all I've got right now. Read and review guys!


	8. One Step Closer

AN: I'm so sorry for not updating for such a long time! I know that there are many fans out there and hopefully you didn't give up reading this story yet. I'm just juggling around with stories and projects and homework, and it's really hard to do it. I know that this chapter might not be much at all, but please please please review.

* * *

Chapter 8: One Step Closer

The light of the morning gently caressed the features of a young woman's face, coaxing her to wake up from her dreamy sleep. She clung on desperately to the whispers of unconsciousness, but lost them a moment later. Giving herself in, she slowly opened her eyes, only to find herself trapped in between two strong arms.

She struggled a bit to get them off of her body, and sat up right next to the person hugging her a moment earlier. She took a moment to recall everything that had happened last night, and sighed when she remembered how they ended up. Slowly, she looked over the sleeping boy under the tree, and almost suddenly felt an aching deep in her chest; an aching for an explanation, for an answer or anything for why he didn't respond to her openness the previous night.

If he didn't feel the same way, he could have just set her straight. Why would he let her wait this long? Frustration racked Videl's body, as she felt tears spilling forth once again, but wiped them away quickly.

It didn't take long before Gohan woke up as well, and got up. Once he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, his attention became focused on the raven-haired girl in front of him.

"Good morning Videl," he replied.

Videl sighed, "Good morning."

For a while, they both just sat there, Videl thinking about what she would say to explain her behaviour the previous night and Gohan pondering how he should explain his flat attitude.

"Videl," he began. The sixteen year old shifted her attention to her friend, relieved that she didn't need to start the conversation.

"Look… yesterday was just… confusing. At least that's the best way I can put it. The cannibals, what happened by the lake, and the things you told me was just… more than I could take." He explained stammering.

Videl urged him to go on, definitely interested on where he was heading.

"I guess, all I'm trying to say…," he continued. "I mean… all I want to say is that… I love you too. I had for quite some time now, there's no need in denying that anymore. Videl, I'm so sorry to just leave you crying last night. But when you said that you… love me… I just couldn't think of anything to say. I couldn't do anything else, but to hold you. I… hope you understand."

Videl came closer to the demi-Saiyan, evidently moved by his words. She opened up her arms, and Gohan felt suddenly relieved that he had proved to her how he really felt, and gladly received the hug that she was apparently giving.

But it wasn't a hug.

She punched the currently vulnerable demi on the head.

"You idiot!" she yelled, scaring some of the birds that were on the nearby trees. "Of course I understand! I just can't believe that you left me hanging for that long!"

Gohan pulled back immediately, rubbing the sore spot on his head.

"Was that necessary?" he asked.

Videl smiled gently, "Yes."

No more words were needed as the teenage lovers took their time gazing at each other's smile. A noise, however, distracted both from their loving moment.

"Maybe we should find some food to eat first," Videl suggested.

Gohan chuckled at his usual habit.

"Yeah, sorry about that."

The two couple made their way through the forest that was starting to be more like their home. The winding pathways of trees were no longer a labyrinth nor a jigsaw puzzle, but rather a hallway of rooms you've gone through several times. It might have been a scary thought to know that a forest might be your new home. However, nothing could alter the serenity of the place right at that moment when two lovebirds are flying in peace… well, more like searching for food.

By now, both of the teenagers knew pretty well where to find the edible materials around the forest and which ones to avoid. They never tried searching a little deeper for something new. The ones that they have were enough for them along with occasional meat when they get lucky.

Picking up some berries from an alignment of bushes, Videl stomped her way around the tangled vines that lustfully embraced her ankles making sure that she wouldn't drop any of the small fruits that were already clutched in her hands.

"How much have you got there, Gohan?" she asked.

"Good enough for both of us," he replied, also making his way through the vines by his feet. "Aren't you tired of these fruits?" he asked.

"Well, as of right now, that's all that we got. We have to be satisfied."

"But my stomach is aching for something different," Gohan complained.

"Yeah. It's also aching for your mom's famous beef stew and sushi and rice and pork chop."

"Why do you have to remind me of that?"

"To make you realize that you just can't have everything you want."

Gohan pouted.

"Well, do you think if I lose you that I can get those foods that I want?"

Videl glared, "What's that supposed to mean?"

He chuckled, "Never mind."

-o-

The dark-locked teenager opened a golden outlined-cover of a medium-sized chest, its creaking hinges irritated the fine image of what the object had been giving off. The antique opened up slowly.

"Why are we doing this again?" the raven-haired beauty asked.

"Because, we need to search for more clues," Gohan replied right back.

"We can be doing something more important, you know."

"We're looking for a way to get out right now. What could be more important."

Videl stated back playfully and maybe even deviously, "Well I don't know. Appreciate each other's company, perhaps?"

Gohan looked up from rummaging through the chest.

"Oh, we have plenty of time for that. Plenty," he answered right back, and Videl could have almost swore she was seeing another side of Gohan that she had never seen before. Well, maybe only a few times. Too few to even bother noticing.

The documents that they had found a couple of days back were still there, where they had left them. Slowly, Gohan took the brittle papers out of the chest and gently placed them down on the dirt.

Videl helped Gohan grope about the precious-looking object, with no success.

"What were you expecting?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe a secret pocket or something?"

Videl sighed in frustration. There was absolutely no way of ever finding a way out. Gohan had pulled her hopes up again, just like he did the past couple of days, and here she was, sitting back down on the dirt without any hope. She wanted to go back home so badly. Yes, this had been an exciting vacation for them, and home wasn't really heaven on earth either, but she missed her past life. She just, for once, wanted everything to go back to the way they were.

"This is ridiculous," she slapped the chest across its top cover, breaking the bronze-carved initials and sending them across the ground. Gohan did nothing to stop her. He knew how she felt.

Videl stared at the nerve-wrecking item with piercing eyes, a small part of her wishing that stares could burn. With her observant glare, she noticed that a part of the blue velvet had been ripped off with the initials. A wooden portion was now showing, somehow with carvings of strange shape etched on it.

"What's that?" she scooted over to take a closer look, taking her fingers and peeling off the rest of the velvet that had added beauty to the thing.

Gohan's attention was immediately caught. He looked closer as well, helping his girlfriend shed the rest of the material. When they had finished doing so, a series of symbols greeted their eyes. The whole wooden cover was decorated with the strange but somehow familiar signs, along with letters that seemed to correspond them. It took no longer than a few seconds for the two fighters to realize where they had seen them before.

"The cave!" they exclaimed.

Both got on their knees and began observing the cryptogram that lay before their eyes. The symbols inside the mysterious cave were indeed a secret code! Things were beginning to be pieced together.

Both knew what to do next.

Ripping the whole cover off from its rusty hinges, Gohan brought the wooden thing to use as he and Videl decided to go back to the cave. The sound of crashing water from the falls soon filled their ears as they came closer to the lake.

The sight of the clear body of water brought a certain memory to the teenager's mind, but both ignored it and plunged it. After a moment or so of following the huge crack, they could once again see the cave.

Fresh air met them when they have entered it. They now faced the grey stony walls of the cave embedded with hundreds of symbols co-ordinating the ones from the wooden cover of the chest.

Excited to find something worthwhile to do, Videl got on her knees taking the cover with her, wasting no time translating.

A curvy symbol with lines through it was etched on the cold hard stone. Videl searched for the same sign on the wooden cover, and cheered deep inside of her thoughts when she found it.

"It's an I," she told Gohan.

"Let me help you," the teenage demi replied as he got crouched down beside his girlfriend and started looking for matching signs again.

"Go get a stone first," Videl ordered.

"For what?"

"Well, we have to write down what these characters mean, and we have to keep track of what it says."

"So where are we going to jot them all down?" he asked.

"I don't know! You're supposed to be the smart one here."

The seventeen year old sighed, but complied to her orders anyway.

-o-

Noon came. Both teens were busy analyzing the information they had harvested from one half of the floor. There wasn't much to look at and understand. The message came in a small piece riddle, and both assumed that it wasn't the start nor the end of a set of riddles. It was just like reading the middle of a book without knowing the certain plot or summary.

"What do you think it means?" Videl asked.

"I have no clue. But I'm guessing it's safe to think that it's related to the piece of letter we found inside that chest."

Videl was silent for a minute.

"I think I have figured out what the 'evil forces' it was saying," she told him.

"What?"

"I think it's those cannibals."

Gohan shifted his attention from the piece of wood he had ripped out of the chest. He had made sure that he had gotten it out of an empty space, so that they won't loose any symbols. With the stone that Videl ordered him to get, he had carved down the riddle on the small wood.

"But, that wouldn't make sense," he protested.

"How can you be sure? This place is weird, remember? Nothing makes sense."

"You've got a point."

Videl moved closer to Gohan to read what he had jotted down once again. It read: _I was an outcast uprooted from my ground, and form the place where I used to roam round. I separated myself from where angers came out so that evil may no longer continue to spout._

"That is so strange." Videl whispered. "Are you sure you jotted them down right?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"Maybe we have to check again."

"I don't want to right now." Gohan mumbled, throwing the piece of wood on the ground.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't feel like it."

"What do you feel like doing then?"

Gohan smirked, reached out for her shoulders, and pulled her close to him.

"This."

He placed a soft kiss on her lips. It hadn't been that long since he had kissed her last, but the results weren't what he expected nor wanted. But this was what he wanted.

She kissed him back, being hypnotized by the movements of his lips for the second time. Before, it had taken her a few moments before to stop what they were doing. She didn't want to stop now, though. This wasn't like last time. It was still... out of Gohan's personality to just grab her and start kissing, but she could understand his reasons now. She felt them too.

Both teenagers soon found themselves in reclining position, though they lay horizontally from each other so that they slightly formed the letter L, connected only with their lips. Both felt the heat of what had started out as an innocent pass time for Gohan; something they both knew would get their minds off their desperation.

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AN: Well, that's all I have for now. I'm sorry if it was a bit short for your liking, but I'm really trying hard here. I still hope y'all liked it and you would review. Please review. I need some inspiration! I promise you that if you review, I'll do a lot better next time. 


	9. Digging In

AN: Hello, guys! Yay, I finally updated again. I get so relieved when I do. I don't know why. Anyway, most of the reviewers for this story probably didn't get a reply for their reviews in Chapter 8. The thing is that I got all of the replies written out already, but when I was about to send them, I lost them. There were quite a few of them, and call me lazy (I'm not, just busy) but I couldn't make another one again. However, I should let you know that I've read all of them, and I really really really liked all of them. Thanks for all of the support, even if I don't really update frequently.

During my long absence, I've been planning what to do and what is going to happen to this story. Other than this, there would only be three more chapters. I know exactly what I'm going to do now.

Please excuse if there are spelling or grammar mistakes here. I really wanted to get this chapter out, so I'm going to edit it later.

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Chapter 9: Digging In

Videl felt the demi's warm lips caress her own. He brushed against it only softly at first, but gained more pressure as they continued. She began to respond back to his movements, and gave back as much as she received. As the kiss deliberately heated up, Gohan started to nip at her bottom lip. She knew just what he wanted, and decided to keep him begging for it for a little longer.

Gohan, confused with her reactions, nibbled at the soft flesh some more, now with more urge. It took a while before Videl finally gave him a break and parted her mouth slightly just like what he wanted. He slipped his tongue inside. He slowly moved them against her perfect rows of teeth before caressing the roof of her mouth. She responded back eagerly... too eagerly.

After they broke apart, Videl picked up the cracked piece of wood from Gohan's hands, running her lithe fingers along the jagged edge.

"Let's go back. We should decode more of the symbols if we are ever planning to get out of here," she whispered to his ear.

He groaned playfully.

"So soon?"

The black-haired vixen had already stood up, and was already walking towards the forest.

"What do you mean? We've been here for a few days!" she answered back.

_But I can't say that I didn't have a good time, _ Gohan thought. After all, it was this island that had let them confess their long-hidden feelings for each other, and in not just an ordinary moon-lit walk on the park or a fresh breeze by the sea kind of thing. His love interest had almost been eaten by cannibals on a supposedly 'magical island' with an invisible shield. Now, that's what you'd call memorable.

"What are you waiting for?" Videl called out, at the same time she disappeared from behind the thick bushes outlining the forest. "If you hurry up, you might be able to catch me taking a dip by the lake!" she added teasingly.

The demi's ears perked up by this statement, and almost in Super Saiyan speed, caught up with the small but tough fighter.

The young Ms. Satan felt a strong breeze pass her, and when she blinked her eyes, the demi had already caught up.

"Wow, I can't seem to think of any reason why you were so fast," she replied sarcastically.

Remembering what she had said about the lake, Gohan's memories automatically swirled back to the time when he had caught her taking a bath. He suddenly felt an urge to tell her and be honest. Hopefully, she wouldn't get angry.

"Uh, Videl I have something to tell you…"

"Shoot," Videl replied.

"Umm, remember that night when you fell from that tree and I… kissed you?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, remember earlier that day when you asked me what was wrong because I seemed sort of out of it?"

"Get to the point, already!"

"Okay. Isawyoutakingabathbythelake."

"What?" Videl stopped dead on her tracks and faced her boyfriend.

Gohan sighed, "I said I saw you taking a bath by the lake."

Videl shook her head. "No, I heard what you said. But WHAT?!"

Gohan grabbed her small frame in his arms and held her tight.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. Please don't be angry," he told her.

"It's okay, Gohan. I'm not," she whispered back to him after a while.

He slowly let go of her tiny figure. "Why not?"

The raven-haired girl glared at him. "Why do you want me to be?"

"NO, no. Not that," Gohan said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "It's just that… I didn't expect you to be…"

"I told you, it's okay," she repeated. "…because I saw you taking a bath too."

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, please. Don't act so surprised. Why do you think I climbed up that tree?"

"Uhmm, didn't you tell me that there was a lion or something?"

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have run away and met the lion if I didn't see you naked."

The demi-Saiyan began walking once again and Videl right behind him.

"Well, I guess we're even now."

Videl shrugged, "Yeah. I guess so."

_Whoa. I hadn't expected that, _the young demi thought quite relieved.

They were met by the little droplets of waters splashing from the falls on the lake. Gohan took off a bit of the clothes he was wearing, preparing to dive into the nice cool waters. Videl didn't even bother.

The cold water was a rather nice alternative to the warm weather they had recently been experiencing. It only got cold during the nights, but the days were, if not warm, steaming hot. The couple swam gracefully to where the cave was, entered the invisible barrier and were able to breathe oxygen once again.

Gohan set the wooden translation down on the cold stone floor of the cavern. He got down on his knees as Videl began groping around the symbols etched on the solid ground. She eyed the curving figures carefully and settled on a certain spot.

"Here," she replied. "Here's where we left off."

Gohan smiled, "Great. Let's begin."

For an hour or so, the pair translated all the symbols and recorded them down. Most of the figures repeated so often that they began getting used to seeing them, almost memorizing over half of what they mean. By the time that they ended, both Videl and Gohan could almost automatically read a set of signs without checking for the translation. Before they decided to finish, they went back to the very beginning to where they had started off earlier that day to check if they recorded it correctly. As it turned out, there were some mistakes.

"I told you we should have checked it out," Videl said casually.

"I never disagreed," the demi protested. "I just had something else in mind at that moment."

Videl smirked at him. "Hey, I never said that I didn't like what you did."

"Good." Then he added, "Because I might just do it again, you never know."

The sixteen-year-old girl smacked her boyfriend playfully on the arm.

"Well, hello mister horny. When did you come out?"

Gohan grinned. "When I met Vegeta."

Videl laughed out loud. When she finally settled down, they decided to read over what they had which was quite a lot.

"Okay, it seems as if all of these are in riddles," Gohan replied.

"Great, we've got some more 'uncoding' to do."

"They shouldn't be that hard to figure out."

Videl shrugged. "So, spill. What's it say?"

"Uhmm... _I believed what I saw from the time it was told. The mystery unwinds as the ages get old. It was shown to me, but only to fear. With no one to know and no one to hear. There are three of them. Three to trick your eyes. You buy what they offer, your life is their price. _This is getting a bit freaky. Are we in a murder case here?"

Videl nodded intently, "Seems like we're heading that way."

"Yeah. But this next one is a bit more like a clue. _Down that familiar path, find the prints on the track. Under all that dirt, you'll discover a crack. Follow it... Follow it..._"

"It looks like it wants to lead us into something," Videl stated.

"Path? A familiar one also..." Gohan thought loudly. "Could it be that..."

"I don't know what you're thinking right now, but I suggest we just get going to see where this might lead us.

"Should we uncover more symbols?" the demi asked.

Videl shook her head. "I have a feeling that whoever wrote that wants us to 'follow the crack' right now."

Videl stood up and was about to exit back into the waters, when she remembered that there were some corrections to be made with the first couple of sentences they translated.

"What were the things that we made a mistake in?"

"Oh, the meaning of the sentence didn't change much. We just missed a couple of letters here and there or mixed them up. The angers that it was talking about turned out to be dangers. It's still a mystery though."

"Okay, well I suggest we go and find out right now. I want to get out of this island you know."

With that, Videl stepped out of the barrier and began swimming upwards. Her boyfriend had no choice but to follow.

Once they had reached the surface, both of them came out of the cool place and began walking on the banks. Gohan grabbed his clothes where he left them and placed them back on.

"See, now you're all wet," he told his girlfriend.

The foxy teen sent him a glare. "Gosh, we've only been a couple for one day, and you're already expecting me to take off my clothes?"

The young man blushed furiously and reached up a hand to scratch the back of his head, an old habit he just couldn't discard easily.

"No, that's not what I meant. I was just thinking that you might get cold. You know, since you're all wet."

The blue-eyed female pierced him with a stare.

"I'm serious!" Gohan confirmed.

"Sure,"

"I am!"

Videl sighed and peeled her sight away from him for a moment, but returned it quickly.

"Well, since you're such a nice boyfriend..."

-o-

Videl set aside a couple of branches from her way, comfortable in her best friend's shirt that was currently drooping down on her small frame.

The pair traveled around the woods, lingering around all the places that they usually go to. They needed to find the 'familiar path' that the riddle was talking about. When they couldn't find anything suspicious anywhere, they decided to head back to their base. Noon was almost on them, and they were sure that they were going to get hungry soon. At least Gohan would be.

While the two started striding out of the forest, somewhere close behind them was a shadow, quietly spying. It remained out of their senses, even the keen ones that Gohan owned. It would reveal itself soon enough.

The ground underneath their feet hardened from the muddy soil that crept along the places near the lake. All of a sudden, the female teen felt the ground she was stepping on give in, causing her ankle to twist sideways. She cursed in pain, as she stumbled down. Gohan was by her side in seconds.

"What happened? Why do you always trip over here?"

"I don't know," she answered irritably. "But my ankle hurts, crap."

The demi bent down to examine her leg. It wasn't anything bad, it was just probably...

"Hey Vidy, look at this."

The raven-haired girl shifted her attention from her hurting ankle to where her boyfriend was staring at. On the ground where she tripped, was a crack dividing two levels of the ground, one slightly higher than the other.

Both of them looked quickly at each other, eyes opened wide. They were thinking the same thing.

Gohan looked immediately back at the information they had gathered.

_A familiar path... a crack..._

"I think we found it," he whispered.

"And we're supposed to follow it, aren't we?" Videl asked back.

He nodded and getting on all fours, he dusted away the remaining dirt the covered the crack.

A shuffling was hear behind them, and standing out from the bushes was one of the cannibals.

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AN: Well, that's it! That's it for this chapter at least. About the riddles, if you know something about Greek Mythology, you'd probably guess who the riddle is referring to. Just a little clue. Review please. I know that I haven't updated for a long while, but please please please please review! 


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